Foundation garment



July 17, 1962 MQREHQUSE 3,044,471

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed Dec. 30, 1960 INVENTOR. PATRICIA Q. MOREHOUSE BYg QTTORNEH United States Patent 3,044,471 FDUNDAHU N GARMENT Patricia A. Morehouse, Des Piaines, iii, assignor to The H. W. Gossard Co., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Iiiinois Filed Dec. 30, 1960, Ser. No. 71,649 6 Claims. (Cl. 128548) This invention relates to foundation garments for women, and it has for its object to provide a novel and improved light-weight garment of this type which effectively controls the abdomen and hips without the use of rigid or heavy stiffening panels, and thus affords exceptional comfort and freedom of movement to the wearer.

Another object of the invention is to provide a figuremolding foundation garment having strategically placed front and back panels composed of a plurality of elastic bands or ribbons which not only cooperate to confine the body at least as effectively as a solid panel but furthermore act individually to distribute the fresh of the as the nature of the invention is more fully disclosed.

The invention is applicable to various types of foundation garments such as girdles, corsets, panty girdles, and combination corsets and brassieres, either of the slipon type or employing suitable fastenings.

The garment disclosed herein for the purpose of illustrating the invention is a slip-on girdle which is adapted to encircle the body of the wearer from the waist downwardly to a point below the hips. It comprises front and back sections which are preferably composed of twoway stretch elastic fabric joined together by vertical side seams.

A plurality of one-way longitudinally stretchable V- shaped elastic bands or ribbons are secured to the front section of the garment with their apexes nested adjacent and preferably in contact with one another and aligned with the vertical center of said front section. The arms of said V-shaped bands, radiating outwardly from their apexes, diverge away from the arms of the adjacent bands, and the outer ends of said bands are secured either to the respective side edges of the garment or to the top edge of the garment, as hereinafter more fully disclosed.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, furthermore, a plurality of one-way longitudinally stretchable elastic bands or ribbons are secured to the back section of the garment with their apexes aligned with the vertical center of said back section. The lowermost of these elastic bands preferably has its apex at the bottom of said back section, and all of the bands on said back section branch or radiate away from one another outwardly of their apexes and have their outer ends secured to the respective sides of the garment.

These and other novel features and advantages of the invention will be described more in detail in connection with a preferred embodiment illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a girdle type foundation garment embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the garment as viewed from the rear;

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 33 of FIG. 2, showing the inside of the front section of the garment; and

3,944,471 Patented July 17, 1962 "ice FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 4--4 of PEG. 1, showing the inside of the back section of the garment.

The garment shown in the drawing is a form fitting slip-on girdle comprising a front section 1 and a back section 2 composed of light, strong two-way stretch elastic fabric adapted to encircle the body of the wearer from the waist downwardly below the hips.

Vertical tapes 3 composed of one-way vertically stretchable elastic fabric extend from top to bottom of the garment on the inside thereof and are stitched throughout their length to the adjacent side edges of front and back sections 1 and 2, said side edges also being stitched together by vertical side seams 4.

Elastic tapes 5 and 6 encircle, and are stitched to, the respective top and bottom inside edges of the garment. These tapes are preferably composed of one-way stretch elastic fabric stretchable in a circumferential direction and hold the top and bottom edges of the garment snugly upon the body. Garter tapes 7 are secured to the tape 6 on the bottom edge of the garment.

To the inside of the front section 1 there are stitched a multiplicity of narrow one-way longitudinally stretchable V-shaped elastic bands or ribbons 8, Si, 10 and 11. These bands, here shown to be four in number and of equal width, have their longitudinal edges effectively secured throughout their lengths to the front section 1 by stitches 12. The apexes of said bands are nested adjacent and in contact one with another and are aligned with the vertical center of front section 1 to which they are secured by a vertical line of stitching 14. in the embodiment illustrated, the portions of bands 8-1 1 which contact one another are stitched together, and at all other points (where a band does not contact another band) the marginal edges of each band are stitched to the garment.

The said V-shaped elastic bands 8, 9, 10 and 11 radiate outwardly, and at points beyond their respective apexes their arms diverge or branch away from the arms of adjacent V-shaped bands. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the lowermost \i-shaped band 8 has its apex adjacent the bottom edge of the garment, and has its diverging arms extending substantially straight or linearly outward for almost half their length, and then at almost the half-Way point said arms curve or arch downwardly and have their outer ends secured to the respective vertical tapes 3 at the side edges of the garment well below the top edge of the garment.

The next ascendingV-shaped band 9 is similar to the band 3 except that the diverging arms of said band 9 start to curve at a point a little more than one-third the distance outwardly from their apex and their curve or slant is relatively small. As a result, the band 9 diverges progressively outwardly from the band 8, and said band 9 has its outer ends secured to the respective vertical side tapes 3 near, but slightly below, the top edge of the garment.

The third V-shaped band 10 of the ascending group of bands, in the embodiment illustrated, has its diverging arms substantially straight or linear and has its outer ends secured to the circumferential tape 5 at the top edge of the garment. The fourth and uppermost V-shaped band 11, being the shortest of the ascending group of bands, has its diverging arms curved or slanted slightly upwardly beginning at a point close to their apex, and has its outer ends secured to the tape 5 at the top edge of the garment and spaced only a short distance from the vertical center of the front section 1.

Referring particularly to FIG. 4, to the inside of the two-way stretch back section 2 of the garment there are secured a plurality of one-way longitudinally stretchable V-shaped elastic bands 16, 1'7, 18 and 19, these being secured effectively throughout their lengths to said back section 2 as by stitches 20. The apexes of said bands 16-19 are nested adjacent and in contact one with another and are aligned with the vertical center of back section 2 to which they are secured by a vertical line of stitching 21. The lowermost band 16 has its apex at the bottom of back section 2, and all of the bands 1649 on said back section radiate away from one another outwardly of their apexes and have their outer ends secured to the respective vertical tapes 3 at the side edges of the garment. The said outer ends of the bands 16-19 on back section 2 are preferably substantially equidistart one from another where secured to the respective sides of the garment. To effect this, the lowermost band 16 has its diverging arms curved downward slightly, outwardly of its apex, While the next ascending band 17 has its arms substantially straight or linear, and the upper bands 18 and 19 have their respective arms slanted upwardly beginning at points a short distance from their respective apexes.

It will be noted that the central portions of the V- shaped elastic bands 8-11, adjacent their apexes, in effect constitute a continuous reinforcing panel disposed in the central portion of said front section; and that the diverging arms of said bands, although slightly spaced from one another and diverging progressively outwardly from said reinforcing panel, together control the entire abdominal region encompassed by them and act as a solid panel to eliminate bulges.

Each of the narrow V-shaped elastic bands, on. both the front and back sections 1 and 2, also act separately The bands on the back section, fanning out and encompassing the area of the upper hips, mold and control the soft pads of flesh below the waistline which ordinarily may be apparent even on slim figures. The bands on the front section of the garment do not act solely and inwardly on the abdomen, but begin their control in the pelvic or lower abdominal area, lifting and holding rather than merely pushing and flattening. This action, especially when combined with the action of the bands on the back section, controls and molds the figure of the wearer and tends to improve the figure in a natural way.

The garment thus achieves, without boning, effective abdomnial and hip control over a wider area than most garments having even much heavier panels. The narrow elastic bands on front and back, spaced as disclosed herein, control the entire area encompassed by them and operate collectively as well as individually. In spite of the great coverage of the reinforcements, there is no loss of comfort or freedom as the areas between the hands, 'being elastic, can still stretch as needed. The bands radiating to the top of the garment create a natural, more comfortable upward and inward lifting control than heretofore achieved in garments of this type.

While a specific garment has been shown and described herein for purposes of illustration, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that the invention is capable of various modifications and adaptations within the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A form-fitting figure molding foundation garment for women comprising front and back sections connected at the sides and composed of elastic fabric adapted to encircle the body of the wearer from the waist downwardly below the hips, and a plurality of one-way longitudinally stretchable V-shaped elastic bands secured to said front section with their apexes nested adjacent and in contact with one another and forming a unitary reinforcing panel disposed in the central portion of said front section, the arms of said V-shaped elastic bands diverging progressively outwardly from said reinforcing panel, at least one of said V-shaped elastic bands having the outer ends of its arms secured to the respective sides of said garment, and at least one other V-shaped band having the outer ends of its arms secured to the top central portion of said front section.

2. A foundation garment according to claim 1, characterized by the provision of a plurality of one-way longitudinally stretchable V-shapecl elastic bands secured to the back section of said garment with their apexes nested adjacent and in contact with one another and aligned with the vertical center of said back section, the lowermost of said last-mentioned V-shaped bands having its apex at the lower portion of said back section, and all of said if-shaped bands on said back section branching away from one another outwardly of their apexes and having their outer ends secured to the respective sides of the garment.

3. A form-fitting figure molding foundation garment for women comprising front and back sections having connected side edges and composed of two-way stretch elastic fabric adapted to encircle the body of the wearer from the waist downwardly below the hips, and a unitary panel disposed in the central portion of said front section and including a multiplicity of one-way longitudinally stretchable l -shaped elastic bands secured to said front section with their apexes nested adjacent and in contact with one another in said central portion of said front section, said V-shaped elastic bands having arms secured to said front section and diverging progressively outwardly from said panel, the lowermost V-shaped band having its apex adjacent the bottom of said front section and having the outer endsof its arms secured to the respective side edges of said garment well below the top of the latter, the V-shaped band adjacent said lowermost V-shaped band' having the outer ends of its arms secured to the respective side edge of said garment near the top of the latter, and others of said V-shaped bands having the outer ends of their arms secured to the top of said front section.

4. Afoundation garment according to claim 3, characterized by the provision of a plurality of one-way longitudinally stretchable V-shaped elastic bands secured to the hack section of said garment with their apexes nested adjacent and in contact with one another and aligned with the vertical center of said back section, the lowermost of said last-mentioned V-shaped bands having its apex at the bottom of said back section, and all of said V-shaped bands on said back section branching away from one another outwardly of their apexes and having their outer ends secured to the respective sides of the garment.

5. A form-fitting figure molding foundation garment for women comprising front and back sections having adjacent side edges composed of two-way stretch elastic fabric adapted to encircle the body of the wearer from the waist downwardly below the hips, vertical tapes composed of one-way vertically stretchable elastic fabric extending from top to bottom of said garment and secured to the adjacent side edges of said front and back sections, elastic tapes encircling and secured to the respective top and bottom edges of said garment and composed of oneway stretch elastic fabric stretchable in a circumferential direction for holding said top and bottom edges snugly upon the body, a multiplicity of one-way longitudinally stretchable V-shaped elastic bands of substantially equal Width and of various lengths secured to said front section with their apexes nested adjacent and in contact one with another and aligned with the vertical center of said front section and having arms radiating outwardly and diverging away from the arms of the adjacent V-shaped bands, the lowermost V-shaped band having its apex adjacent the bottom edge of said garment and having its outer ends secured to the respective side edges of said garment well below the top edge of the latter, the next ascending V-shaped band having its outer ends secured to the respective side edges of said garment near the top edge of the latter, and others of said V-shaped bands having their outer ends secured to the top edge of said garment, a

plurality of one-way longitudinally stretchable V-shaped elastic bands secured to the back of said garment with their apexes nested adjacent and in contact with one another and aligned with the vertical center of the back section, the lowermost of said last-mentioned V-shaped bands having its apex at the bottom of said back section, and all of said V-shaped bands on said back section radiating away from one another outwardly of their apexes and having their outer ends secured to the respective sides of the garment.

6. A foundation garment according to claim 5, characterized by the fact that the outer ends of the V-shaped bands on said back section are substantially equidistant one from another Where secured to the respective sides of the garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,458,279 Levy Jan. 4, 1949 2,803,822 Doyle Aug. 27, 1957 2,953,134 Kaupp Sept. 20, 1960 2,982,287 Paveza May 2, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,106,002 France July 13, 1955 

